Comfortably Numb
by Noitca
Summary: Naruto has saved the world from Tobi and is soon to become the Rokudaime Hokage. Why does he feel so conflicted now that he has everything he's ever wanted? Kakashi is there to help him better understand. Song Fic to Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd. Two-shot.


**A/N: First off, sorry about the shoddy quality. It's been quite some time since I actually wrote something that I was planning on uploading. Some random ideas have been coming to me lately. I happen to not be a fan of song-fics. In fact, I have a general dislike of them. For some reason, when I was listening to some music tonight, I was hit with an avalanche of ideas, so here we are. At first, this was to be a one-shot, but the fic as wrote itself and Kakashi and Naruto seem to have decided that this will be a two-shot. Worry not, KakaNaru lovers, the next chapter will Gibbs-slap our favorite characters in the head and you will soon have the story you were looking for.**

* * *

**Song is Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd.**

**I suggest you look it up on YouTube and give it a listen. I happen to believe it's a good song.**

* * *

Naruto kicked his feet freely off the top of the Hokage Monument. He sat comfortably perched on top of his own father's head, a sad smile upon his face.

There was nothing worse than this feeling. This emptiness. It had been there all along, but it had disappeared somewhat.

Now, though, it was back. Sure, he had friends. The village didn't even hate him. If anything, they renounced him the hero of Konoha. He was even next in line for the Hokage's chair. Tsunade was retiring soon and she had announced him as her successor.

He should be happy. No, strike that. He should be ecstatic. He had finally achieved his dream. He had done it. Everything he wanted, he had gained, right? Then why was he so… empty?

His soul had a gaping hole right through the middle, nothing filling the empty void. Something was missing. Something he hadn't had all of his life. It came as a blank to him, when he thought about it. What could he possibly be missing?

He had more friends than ever. People were practically falling over themselves to be in the presence of the great "Naruto-sama" who had saved them from Tobi's evil plot and united the ninja world.

Naruto had done what his godfather had always wanted. He had finally made a peaceful world, one where everyone was happy. It was a sad irony. The one who had wrought this era was empty as his painful childhood. Sometimes he wondered if the world was out to get him.

He had legends of parents, his father the Yondaime, his mother the heiress of what was said to be the most powerful clan in the history of the world. His godfather was a Sannin, his sensei the infamous Sharingan no Kakashi. His "baa-chan" was another Sannin.

He was raised as close as one got to being a pedigree shinobi. He was related or practically related to every Hokage in existence. He was meant for this life, this lifestyle. He should be happy. His family would be proud of him. That alone should be enough to make him smile.

Here he was, empty and broken. He felt nothing; no happiness but at the same time, no sadness. It was an odd feeling, to say the least.

A hand softly touched his shoulder.

"Naruto, what are you doing up here? Everyone's waiting for you," Kakashi's soothing voice spoke softly, hand still resting on orange cloaked shoulder.

Resisting the urge to nuzzle the older man's hand, Naruto simply sighed and looked into sunset.

"I'm just tired, Sensei," the younger man responded monotonously.

"Don't be like that, Hokage-sama. You know you can talk to me," he teased softly in return, half joking with his former-student, the other half completely serious. Naruto gave him an offended look.

"You know you're more than that, Sensei," he snorted. Kakashi's visible eye widened at the abrupt comment. He wasn't expecting that kind of reaction.

"Hai," he returned simply before sitting down next to his student. Arms stretched back behind him, Kakashi didn't even bother taking out Icha Icha. He was going to take this as an opportunity. He had always taken his student for granted, but now Naruto was really the only one he had left that was relatable.

They sat there in comfortable silence, the sunset slowly dunking their surroundings into dark.

"They were really looking forward to seeing you. It would be a shame to disappoint them," he gently urged.

Naruto's eyes flickered up to meet his, and for a second, Kakashi didn't know what he saw. He saw nothing. He saw everything. He saw emptiness and fullness. Sadness and happiness. Despair and joy. Such dull but conflicting eyes.

"We can't disappoint, now can we?" Naruto tried to force some semblance of happiness onto his face. It came out disfigured to his friend, but to a passerby, it would seem to be a cheery grin. "Care to do the honors?" He 'smirked'.

"Hai," he responded with an eye smile. Placing his hand on the blonde's shoulder, he performed a simple **Shunshin** and the duo appeared in a poof of smoke outside Ichiraku's.

Naruto stepped forward, pushing the curtains out of the way as he stepped into the newly reformed restaurant, a fake smile plastered across his features, as per normal.

A wave of hellos and shouts of happiness cascaded around him in a wall of unknowing condescension. Every present greeting was mocking. Every smile covering up a glare. Every handshake with the other hand poised to strike.

He felt inhuman. He saw things that weren't there. He saw demons in the faces of those he previously believed to be friends.

Smiling with fake glee, he talked with each of his 'friends', regaling his tales with splendor that would make Jiraiya proud.

He grew tired quickly. It wasn't something that came as much of a shock to him. He was exhausted before even coming to this 'Congratulations Dinner'.

Kakashi, being the attentive man that he was, had been watching Naruto the entire night. He had a bad feeling about his student. It was obvious that something was wrong, and that hurt him. The fact that his most precious person didn't trust him enough to talk about what was troubling him struck to the core.

Seeing his student's decline in 'excitement', he moved to stand by the blonde's side. Placing his hand on the younger man's shoulder, he announced to the crowd, "Rokudaime-sama here has some work to catch up on. Ja ne."

The duo retreated the same way they had arrived, in an inconspicuous billow of smoke. The crowd that had been left behind pouted unhappily. They wanted more time with their new soon-to-be leader! It wasn't fair that he be working all the time.

Their destination was Naruto's house. Arriving in the comfortable living room, Kakashi sat his student down on the couch. Giving a somewhat longing glance over his shoulder, he moved to leave through the door like a normal person.

He was stopped with a resistance on his sleeve. Looking down, he found it caught between Naruto's thumb and pointer finger, in a childish fashion, like a boy grasping his mother's shirt.

For a second, he thought he heard a soft call pleading with him not to go. Wiping it from his mind as a silly delusion, he moved to leave again. A tug was felt this time, stronger and more assured. This time, he heard it. "Stay."

_Hello,_

_Is there anybody in there?_

_Just nod if you can hear me_

_Is there anyone home?_

He still felt compelled to leave. Kakashi wasn't exactly sure what he was going to do. Who knew what his body would do? Sometimes he felt his self control declining, and that scared him. Pushing aside his insecurities, the older man sat down next to the younger.

To the sharingan user's surprise, Naruto's head slowly came to rest on his shoulder, slowly inching towards his chest. On instinct, his arm rose to wrap around the blonde's shoulders in comfort. To his horror, the other man started to cry.

Kakashi wasn't the most sentimental man. In fact, he was well known to not have many emotions at all. If he had them, they were very well hidden. Because of this, he had issues with comforting people. He just couldn't seem to understand how to do it. The idea of it was familiar, but he certainly had never practiced it before. Nobody he cared about had ever needed comfort. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't had someone important to him for quite some time.

He pulled the crying man-child into his lap, cradling his blonde head to his chest. He had no idea what he was supposed to be doing. Icha Icha said that this was the appropriate action, so he ran with the notion.

They sat there like this for quite some time. Half an hour. Maybe 45 minutes. Who really knew? Naruto had ceased his crying and they sat there in surprisingly comfortable silence.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," Naruto spoke softly, breaking the stalemate.

"What do you mean by that?" he returned softly, not wanting to upset his companion.

_Come on_

_Now_

_I hear you're feeling down_

_I can ease your pain_

_Get you on your feet again_

Naruto was important to him. He had… feelings. As many common day kids would say, 'so many feels' that he didn't know what to do with. All these strange things were coming out of the dark pit he thought had permanently sucked up his humanity.

He had thoughts. Desires. Wants that he couldn't act upon. He was lost. What was a man to do? Literally, Icha Icha was his education on these situations. Common courtesies were foreign to him. Instinct and read knowledge were all he had to depend on.

No matter how uncomfortable he was with the race called humans, he wanted to help this… person. Person was the only word he could come up with to accurately describe Naruto. He was so many things, to him and to the rest of Konoha. He was many people, many characteristics. There was no other word to describe him besides that of his name. Naruto was Naruto.

He didn't just want to help him. He needed to help him. He had to do it.

_Relax_

_I'll need some information first_

_Just the basic facts_

_Can you show me where it hurts?_

Silence broke through the air again. Naruto pondered that question. What did he mean by that?

"I feel… empty. I don't know what I feel, Sensei. I should be happy. Here I am moping and sad when my every dream is coming true. What's wrong with me?" he pleaded not only his Sensei, his heart breaking.

_There is no pain you are receding_

_A distant ship's smoke on the horizon_

_You are only coming through in waves_

_Your lips move_

_But I can't hear what you're saying_

The older man's hands absently carded through the blonde locks pressed into his vest. He hnned uncommitingly in response.

"I don't know, you tell me. The world never gives you more than you can handle," he answered cryptically. It was a dilemma. The silver-haired man had a conflict of interest. He wanted to do anything in his power to make the younger man feel better, but at the same time, he didn't want his secret found out.

_When I was a child I had a fever_

_My hands felt just like_

_Two balloons_

_Now I've got that feeling once again_

_I can't explain_

_You would not understand_

_This is not how I am_

_I... Have become comfortably numb_

Naruto frowned. Everything he ever wanted. He was acknowledged. He had friends. He was soon going to become Hokage. The world was peaceful, something that had never been achieved before.

Here he was, the man who had saved their universe and… he was alone.

"I'm alone. Nobody loves me," he whispered to himself. As all self-deprecating people, Naruto went even further. "Nobody could ever love someone like me."

_O.K._

_Just a little pin prick_

_There'll be no more aaaaaaaah!_

_But you may feel a little sick_

That hurt Kakashi as much as a backhand to the face. Nobody could love him? Was he nobody?

With a frown engrained upon his expression, he returned "Does that mean I'm nobody?" A grim look came onto his face as he shifted his gaze down at his ex-student.

_Can you stand up?_

_I do believe it's working_

_Good_

_That'll keep you going through the show_

_Come on_

_It's time to go_

A shocked look came across the blonde's face. What the heck was his mentor talking about? A shimmer of recognition shinned in his eyes as his brain slowly caught up.

A realization came to him. This was what love felt like, didn't it? This, warm feeling in the presence of the target of your affections.

Huh.

Self-defense mechanisms automatically went up in response to the recognition of emotions. Nobody could love him. He was unloved. He was unlovable. It was impossible.

"No you don't. You love the idea of me, just like you loved the idea of Sasuke. Look where that got us."

_There is no pain you are receding_

_A distant ship's smoke on the horizon_

_You are only coming through in waves_

_Your lips move_

_But I can't hear what you're saying_

Kakashi retreated as if slapped. He lets out his most important secret, and his affection is shoved back into his face. It hurt. His failure being shoved back into his face really hurt. Deep down, he knew that it was just Naruto's self-conscious protecting itself. At the moment though, all he could feel was the betrayal.

His expression contorted into one of pain. And damn it hurt.

_When I was a child_

_I caught a fleeting glimpse_

_Out of the corner of my eye_

All he could think of doing was running. That was what he did. Sure, when in battle, he would fight. This was different. He was in uncharted territory. His heart had never been put on the line. Already, it was being used as a meat shield. He panicked. And ran.

Practically frozen in abhorrer, he managed to perform the half-hand sign needed to **Shunshin** and poof, Naruto hit his couch with a thud.

Although Kakashi couldn't see it, as soon as the words were out of his mouth, Naruto's face twisted in repulsion at the words that had come from his mouth. How could he have said those things? They were horrible, knotted words used in fear. They weren't true. They could never be true.

Before he was able to apologize, Kakashi was gone.

What does one do when they screw up so horrifically?

_I turned to look but it was gone_

_I cannot put my finger on it now_

_The child is grown_

_The dream is gone_

_I... Have become comfortably numb_

* * *

**A/N: Welcome back. I hope you enjoyed your little ride. I won't beg for Reviews, but I'd appreciate them. Feel free to complain about whatever you find wrong with my writing. Please complain about my Fragments. They're bad habits, but I can't seem to go back. Let me know how I did and put in your two-cents about the chapter to come. I'd love to hear your feedback and possibly tweak the next chapter which is already written.**

**Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique): a high-speed movement technique, allowing a ninja to move short to long distances at an almost untraceable speed.**

**Rank: D-Rank**

**Class: Supplementary**

**(I kind of hope you know what the Shunshin is... It's really the most overused jutsu in fanfic, but ignore me. I did after all, also use the most cliche move out there multiple times.)**

**Catch you on the flip side,**

**~Action**


End file.
